Law & Disorder —

EU: UK needs “private copying” copyright exemption

Even as it launches the punningly-titled eYouGuide for online rights, the …

Many European countries have a "private copying" copyright exemption—but what does "private copying" mean? The answer depends on where you live, but two European Commissioners hope to change that over the next couple of years by harmonizing "private copying" law across Europe.

Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, joined forces with Meglena Kuneva, the EU Consumer Commissioner, to announce today the launch of a new website called (groan) eYouGuide. The site explains the various rights that European consumers have online and answers questions about copying, recording streaming audio, DRM, and Europe's 7-day "cooling-off period" for purchases.

The site strives for hipness ("File-sharing platforms are an awesome means of sharing information and knowledge"), but the most notable feature appears to be accuracy. Questions about cracking DRM or uploading files to P2P networks are more complicated than a mere "yes" or "no," and the eYouGuide does an admirable job of explaining the issues.

Public debates over "private"

When it comes to "private copying," the site explains the topic this way: "In the majority of EU countries, you can copy your media file for your own private use, for non-commercial purposes. The number of copies you can make might be limited. The rules differ from country to country. In some EU countries, namely the UK and Ireland, you are not allowed to make a copy of a copyrighted file for private use."

This is why, for instance, UK law makes dirty pirates out of those who copy their own CDs onto computers—a copy has been made, and making it "privately" doesn't matter.

"Private copying," in countries that do allow it, is usually "limited to domestic use, covering only the closest family members." But not always.

These sorts of cross-border issues crop up all the time in Europe. Digital licenses to sell music, for instance, are complicated and country-specific, making it difficult for a single music store to serve all of Europe (this is why iTunes runs many different European stores). Telecom regulation has traditionally differed by country, causing problems or high fees for mobile phone use.

The EU has already tackled some of these issues; at the moment, for instance, Parliament appears ready to pass the Telecom Package that will streamline regulation and presumably lower prices by creating more competition.

Along with launching eYouGuide today, Commissioners Reding and Kuneva want to go further with a "digital agenda" for the future. This includes addressing the online music market, attacking the spam problem, mandating better privacy policy disclosure, and smoothing out "private copying" inconsistencies.

Doing all those things might be helpful, but Europe has a bigger problem to deal with: people don't trust the Internet. A new Eurobarometer poll shows that only 12 percent of Europeans "feel safe making transactions on the Internet."